pirit, is a measure of his achievement. The typical tension in Hardy's verse between jerky personal rhythm and rigid form is repeated in the structure of the novel. Jude's arhythmic wanderings (Marygreen--Christminster--Melchester--Shaston--Aldbrickham and elsewhere--Christminster) are counterpointed and held together with hoops of steel by the poetic stylization of the plot (Brooks 258-259).
Human begins interact with their setting, and Jude projects his own inner feelings onto each of the places where he lives, seeing in them first his aspirations and later evidence of the burning away of his illusions:
In Hardy's universe man's presence is ultimately inexplicable; so that while he sees nature as indifferent, he cannot help personifying it in some diabolical form. This is a measure of the intensity of his feelings towards it, and of the contradiction of his thought. To him man's position can be explained only by a universe which perpetually defeats him, unintentionally yet intentionally. The universe, seen in this way, is simply another term for evil (Muir 115).
Jude has dreams of being an educated man. His whole life seems to have been designed to convince him that this is impossible, and yet he still tries to achieve his dream and behaves as if he were a man with many more choices in life than he actually has. In his society, his choices are determined by his birth. Jude has no family background at all, being an orphan, and this fact identifies him as an outsider in a society in which family determines ranking and many other aspects of life. Those who not only have parents but have the right parents are those who attend the university and succeed. They are given a leg up in the world by their families, and there is no leg up for someone like Jude. That is why he is and will always be "the obscure," someone who does not have the kind of identity that would make him somebody.
The vital importance of education...